Minnesota

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to get out of Washington, DC and travel to small towns and farm towns in the heartland of the country. I sat down with small business owners, farmers and ranchers in Iowa; I had lunch with veterans in Cannon Falls, Minnesota; and I talked to plant workers at...

Cross posted from the White House blog: Today, I am hosting a forum focused on the rural economy at the Iowa state fair. But, Rural America has been in the spotlight all this week as I joined President Obama to travel across parts of Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois, visiting rural communities to...

Even though they are surrounded by busy city streets and apartment buildings, fresh vegetables and fruits are only a few steps away for Pakou Yang and Pahoua Vue. Yang and Vue grow onions, tomatoes, peppers, beans and cilantro in the USDA’s community garden at the Common Bond Communities Torre De...

After years of paying rent while wishing he could purchase his own home, 29-year-old Adam Brautigan was finally able to do so with the help of USDA Rural Development. Adam found out about Rural Development’s home loan program from his mother, Mary Kay, who works as a realtor in Pine City, Minnesota...

Chris Olson learned firsthand that there is much more to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) than he thought. Now he wants to share his story with others. Olson used USDA Rural Development’s direct home loan program to purchase a home in Cambridge, Minn. He learned about Rural Development’s...

The St. Peter Food Co-op has been a valuable asset to the south central region of Minnesota for over 31 years. I realized just how valuable as I sat down to eat lunch at the co-op recently. General manager Margo O’Brien had just given us a tour and hosted an event to publicly recognize the USDA’s...

April marked an important month for northeastern Minnesotans. Ground was broken to mark the beginning of a three-year project to supply high-speed broadband access across eight counties and surrounding of the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. The project was funded through the American Recovery and...

Access to quality healthcare in Northeastern Minnesota received a major boost on May 20. That’s when officials broke ground on an expansion project that will add over 80,000 square-feet to Community Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Cloquet, Minn. During the ceremony, officials also highlighted how the...

Travelers on Interstate 94 in central Minnesota are greeted by a smiling face whenever they pass through the city of Freeport. For years, the city has been known for the smiley face painted on its water tower. Unfortunately, due to the tower’s age, it no longer meets the needs of the community of...

Cross posted from the Let's Move! blog: I can’t tell you if there are 10,000 lakes in Minnesota, but I can tell you that there is one creative group of students the South Education Center Alternative (SECA) in Richfield, Minn. Richfield was the next stop in the First Lady’s Recipes for Healthy Kids...